The state's defense contractors, air travelers, National Guard members and even college officials are concerned about the potential effects of federal budget cuts scheduled to begin Friday.

The lack of agreement in Washington, D.C., on federal spending through September means uncertainty in the supply chain for companies that build military aircraft and submarines, as well as federal grant money fueling research at Connecticut colleges and even smaller airports.

After a briefing Thursday with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said that if there were cutbacks in air transportation, , they likely would hurt smaller airports such as Tweed New Haven Airport on the New Haven-East Haven border.

"No decisions have been made yet about the specific airports or the air traffic that might be shut down," Blumenthal said. "Certainly, Tweed is one of the airports that might be at risk because it's smaller."

"The threat of sequestration has created a great deal of uncertainty in the industry and its effects can already be felt, especially in the supply chain, where decisions on hiring and capital investments are being suppressed," Pratt spokesman Ray Hernandez said. "We simply do not know how the cuts would be applied on programs."

For Pratt's parent company, Hartford-based United Technologies Corp., the cuts would affect the 17 percent of its revenues that come from the Pentagon. At an investor conference last week, the company's chief executive officer, Louis Chenevert, said, "The impact on our business would be limited in 2013 at this time, with more impact in 2014."

At Kaman, the company said the cuts could mean about a 4 percent drop in its aerospace revenues for 2013.

Connecticut companies hold about $15 billion a year in defense contracts. Also, the cuts could reach civilian workers at the submarine base in Groton and the Connecticut National Guard.

Connecticut's congressional delegation and top leaders in Washington are hoping for an eventual deal as President Barack Obama is scheduled to meet with congressional leaders Friday at the White House. The outlook wasn't bright Thursday when Congress effectively declared an impasse and went home for the weekend. Several members of the Connecticut delegation, including Blumenthal and Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, are expected at a press conference at Tweed on Friday.

The cuts represent $85 billion out of an overall federal budget of $3.8 trillion, and are part of $1.2 trillion in projected reductions over the next decade. Some major federal programs, including Social Security, food stamps, veterans benefits and military salaries, are exempt from cuts.

"There is no ton of bricks or earthquake or government shutdown coming on March 1 or the end of March," Blumenthal said. "But there is a cascading effect on government services and the economy."

Rep. Joe Courtney, D 2nd-District, in a video released by his office, said the scheduled repairs to submarines are important, and the state must avoid cuts that are penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Since many of the budget cuts will be phased in over time, the deadline Friday was seen by some as less than dire because the cuts would not have their full impact until later in the year. Others have complained that the potential cuts have been over-hyped.

"I'm probably as frustrated as anybody about the lack of cooperation down in Washington, D.C., and further frustrated, to be blunt, by the president going around the country as if he's in campaign mode rather than sitting down with the Republicans and trying to get to compromise," said state Senate Republican leader John McKinney of Fairfield.

McKinney blames Obama in large part for the current crisis atmosphere, saying that he has not seen Republicans traveling around the country and making similar campaign-style speeches.

"Sequestration was his idea," McKinney said of Obama. "He offered it. He signed it. Republicans and Democrats voted for it. Why they're not all in the same room together, trying to find a solution, is beyond me. The president can't be going to places like Virginia and giving campaign speeches and then turn around and say, 'Why aren't you guys compromising with me?' The bitterness of their tone, on both sides, is preventing them from sitting down and talking.'"

McKinney added: "The amount of money they're talking about in terms of the federal budget — and we're talking about a very small decrease in the increase in spending — you would think they would be able to solve in an afternoon meeting."

At the University of Connecticut, spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz said that about 80 percent of the research grants to the school are from federal agencies.

"We're definitely watching this closely," Reitz said, "and I think every research institution in the U.S. is very closely watching it."

She said it's difficult to know to what degree UConn's federal grants might be affected.

"As you can imagine, this leaves uncertainty for our researchers, particularly those working on multi-year grants who are in the midst of their projects and those who are preparing grant applications and awaiting word on whether the money would be there to fund those that are selected," Reitz said. "Our fervent hope is that the issue is resolved and any worst-case scenarios can be avoided."